Microhabitat Governs the Microbiota of the Pinewood Nematode and Its Vector Beetle: Implication for the Prevalence of Pine Wilt Disease.

Our understanding of environmental acquisition of microbes and migration-related alteration of microbiota across habitats has rapidly increased. However, in complex life cycles, such as for many parasites, exactly how these microbes are transmitted across multiple environments, such as hosts and habitats, is unknown. Pinewood nematode, the causal agent of the globally devastating pine wilt disease, provides an ideal model to study the role of microbiota in multispecies interactions because its successful host invasion depends on the interactions among its vector insects, pine hosts, and associated microbes.

Invasion History of the Pinewood Nematode Influences the Abundance of sp. in Pupal Chambers and Tracheae of Insect-Vector .

Pine wilt disease (PWD) has caused extensive mortality in pine forests worldwide. This disease is a result of a multi-species interaction among an invasive pinewood nematode (PWN) , its vector sp. beetle, and the host pine tree ( sp.

miR-31-5p regulates cold acclimation of the wood-boring beetle Monochamus alternatus via ascaroside signaling.

Background: Survival to cold stress in insects living in temperate environments requires the deployment of strategies that lead to physiological changes involved in freeze tolerance or freeze avoidance. These strategies may consist of, for instance, the induction of metabolic depression, accumulation of cryoprotectants, or the production of antifreeze proteins, however, little is known about the way such mechanisms are regulated and the signals involved in their activation. Ascarosides are signaling molecules usually known to regulate nematode behavior and development, whose expression was recently found to relate to thermal plasticity in the Japanese pine sawyer beetle Monochamus alternatus.

Chemical Signals of Vector Beetle Facilitate the Prevalence of a Native Fungus and the Invasive Pinewood Nematode.

In China, the invasive , the vector beetle, and associated fungi exhibit a symbiotic relationship causing serious losses to pine forests. Although this complex system has been intensively investigated, the role of vector beetles on the development of associated fungi and their indirect contribution to the prevalence of pinewood nematode (PWN) is yet unknown. Here, three of the highly prevalent fungal species, viz.